Improvement in mode of operating railroad-pumps



Inl/anton' N. PETERS, PHOTO-LKITHGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, nv c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT M. COLE, OF FOLSOM CITY, CALIFORNIA.

Specification forming pait of Letters Patent No. 37,152, :lated December 16, 1862.

To all whom t may concern.-

` Be it known that I, GILBERT M. COLE, of Folsom city, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Operatin gRailroad-Pumps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference beinghad to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this spec'lication, in which- Figure l represents a transverse vertical section of my invention, and Fig. 2 a plan or top view of the same.

Similiar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

This invention consists in the application of steam from the locomotive-boiler to operate the piston or pistons of one. or more steamA cylinders which connect by suitable mechanism with the plunger of a railroad-pump, in such a manner that whenever the locomotive arrives in the neighborhood of a pump, and when it is desired to throw water into the tender or into a tank situated at the side of the track, from which it can be let down into the tender, this object is effected by connecting said steam cylinder or cylinders with the locomotive-boiler, thereby operatin g the pump by steam-power, instead of the ordinary slow process of operating the pump by hand or otherwise.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A represents the railroad-track in a station or other place in the neighborhood ot' a pump, B, which serves to throw water into a tank or directly into the tender, as may be most desirable. Such pumps are generally operated by hand or sometimes by horse-power, or by small stantionary steam-engines used in a station for cutting fire-wood and similar purposes, and the water is raised into a tank of such a capacity that it holds a large supply of water, and placed at such a level that the water from the same runs readily down into the tender. The supply of water is taken from a well, C, and the pump may either be placed down on or near to the bottom of said well, or a double-acting pump may be used and placed above ground with a suctionpipe leading down into the well.

Instead of operating the pump by hand or by some other power, which requires some eXtra attendance and expenditure, I employ one or more steam-cylinders, D, which are put up at the side of the track and in the neighborhood of the pump. The pistons of said cylinders connect, by means of rods a, with a crankshaft b, through the agency or' which motion is imparted to the plunger ot' the pump. The cylinders D are supplied with steam through pipes c or c', which extend on opposite sides of the track, and which are provided with suitable couplings, so that the same can be readily connected with a pipe leading from the boiler ofthe locomotive. If the locomotive approaches the pump in the direction of arrow l, Fig. 2, the pipe c is connected with the boiler, and if the locomotive arrives in the direction of arrow 2, the pipe c is connected with the boiler, and the pipes c c must be so arran gedthat the steam entering through either of the pipes hasaccess to both cylinders with ont being permitted to escape through the other pipe. These cranks of the shaft b, which connect with the pistons of the cylinders, ought to be placed at an angleof ninety degrees toward each other, so that no iiywheel is needed to pass the dead-centers.

By these means, whenever the locomotive arrives in a station or in the neighborhood of the pump and while the train stops, the boiler ofthe locomotive is connected with the cylinders D, and the pump is operated. The tender can thus be supplied with Water either directly from the pump, or the water may be raised to a supply-tank, from which it is admitted to the tender without requiring any hand labor or extra expense for a horse or other source of power.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The application ot one or more cylinders,D, which are siipplied with steam from the locomotive through pipes c c,in combination with the pump B, as and for the purpose shown and described.

G. M. COLE. 

